Thank you Alex Hillsberg for this awesome article and Infographic!
Recent independent studies made by Pew, Nielsen, and Burst Media told us what we already suspect in our list of friends and followers: there are more women in them. But that’s not just the point of these studies. Buried in the data are two significant trends that may set the future of social media, as dictated by women’s whims.
But first, the facts. Women outnumber men in using the top social sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest. In Facebook alone, among all online women in the U.S., 76% said they use the top social network, while among all online U.S. men it’s 66%. Moreover, women use these social networks several times more often daily than men.
Using data from these studies, an infographic published by FinancesOnline.com provides a quick comparison of men and women in social media not just in numbers, but in many ways.
More women access their social networks via mobile
We can see an influx of social apps dedicated to mobile, the next growth area of social networks. Interestingly, it’s women who are driving this growth. Online women are 46% more likely to access their account via smartphone compared to 43% for men. Likewise, women are 32% more likely to use a tablet to check their social networks; for men it’s 20%. When we hear industry observers harking the future of social is in mobile, and that the top Internet activity is happening in these channels, they might as well say the future of social media is in women.
Women set the trend towards the visual web
Women dominate the use of visually oriented social networks such as Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr. These are the three fastest growing social networks today, garnering ten million new users each in one year. The rapid growth of these sites is expected to spawn similar sites and set the trend toward the visual web. Pinterest best illustrates that women are driving this trend. Among all U.S. women online, 33% access this network, whereas among U.S. men online it’s just 8%. Yet Pinterest is now the toast of investors who believe the visual web is the future.
Content consumption and brand interaction
Women also use social media in critical areas such as content consumption and brand interaction. Among U.S. online adults who consumed news, 58% are women compared to 42% of the opposite sex. Likewise, 53% of online women in the U.S. access deals, while for men it’s only 36%. Women also tend to show more brand support, provide feedback, and like a brand page to keep updated.
Clearly, women are setting the pace in social media and we expect more content and brands to tap this influential demographic. More importantly, where social media has played a crucial role in molding public opinion, we can only hope women’s influence go beyond social media and into real social issues about their plight.
The InfoGraphic
